lectin

American  

[lek-tin] / ˈlɛk tɪn /

noun

Biochemistry.

1. any of a group of proteins that bind to particular carbohydrates in the manner of an antibody and are commonly extracted from plants for use as an agglutinin, as in clumping red blood cells for blood typing.

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lectin British  

/ ˈlɛktɪn /

noun

1. a type of protein possessing high affinity for a specific sugar; lectins are often highly toxic

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Etymology

Origin of lectin

1954; < Latin lēct ( us ), past participle of legere to gather, select, read + -in ²

Example Sentences

To do this in a targeted way, they built multifunctional molecules called AbLecs that pair a lectin with an antibody that homes in on tumors.

From Science Daily

The three researchers set to work to create a sort of chemical probe capable of "freezing" the meeting between sugar and lectin and making it visible through fluorescence.

From Science Daily

For eight weeks, he and his colleagues fed ethanol both to ordinary mice and to mice genetically engineered to lack the two pertinent lectin molecules.

From Economist

Crump says she tagged the lectins with fluorescent labels, and when she observed the mosquito cells microscopically, each lectin displayed various levels of fluorescent intensities based on the concentration of proteins within the cell.

From US News

Zion used nanoscale molecular engineering to create an insulin-lectin gel that could be injected without the need for an implanted pouch, while also rejiggering the lectin to make it less toxic.

From New York Times